This invention relates to an in-line wire drawing machine for unwinding wire from a coil of wire, for reducing the diameter of the wire and for supplying the reduced-diameter wire to a using station such as a cold header located downstream of the wire drawing machine. An in-line wire drawing machine of this general type is disclosed in Alcock et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,403.
In such a machine, the wire is initially wound in a coil which is supported on a rotatable turntable. Wire from the coil is threaded through a drawing die and then is wrapped several times around a power-rotated drum or capstan. When the capstan is rotated, it pulls wire through the drawing die so as to reduce the diameter thereof, the reduced diameter wire first winding onto one end of the capstan and then unwinding from the other end of the capstan for supply to the using station. As the wire is pulled by the capstan, the turntable rotates in order to allow the wire to unwind from the coil and to proceed to the drawing die.
Conventionally, the turntable is mounted on a floor-supported base and is located near floor level behind the rear or upstream end of the main frame which supports the capstan. As a result, the overall machine is relatively long and occupies significant floor space. When several machines are located in a facility, the total floor space taken up by the rearwardly located turntables is an economic detriment.